Ona Mae Holt

Ona Mae (Pipkin) Holt, age 90 years, 11 months, passed away Thursday,
January 24, 2019, in Derby, Kansas.

She was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on February 24, 1928, to Burnie Percy and Ruby Opal (Brown) Pipkin. At the age of 18 she married her Navy man, the love of her life and her rock, David Eugene (Gene) Holt, on March 3, 1946. Their marriage lasted 67 years, 5 months, and produced four children: Sandra Jean (Grimes Bannon), Dennis Wayne, David Gerald, and Vicki Bernice (Heinzman). Through the years Ona Mae and Gene lived in Ponca City, Oklahoma; Wichita Falls, Texas; Pasadena, Texas; Derby, Kansas; Moore, Oklahoma; and Wichita, Kansas.

Ona Mae attended Jackson Junior High School and Capitol Hill High School in Oklahoma City. In her youth she took lessons and learned to play the accordion, becoming accomplished enough to be invited to play in church. With a smile, she would tell the story of one time playing the "Beer Barrel Polka" in church. In later years, if her children hounded her relentlessly enough, she would bring out her accordion and play for them.

Ona Mae was the family historian. As was her beloved Uncle Erwin, she was a major shutterbug, taking photos seemingly at every turn. She spent hours upon hours organizing numerous photo albums, noting in gold ink on the spine the years the photographs inside covered. In the family home those albums filled a large bookcase. As her children grew to adulthood and were ready to leave the nest, she presented to them the scrapbooks she had so lovingly prepared containing all their school pictures, grade cards, and anything particularly special for that child.

At each of the family homes she planted and tended her flowers, something she truly enjoyed.

Ona Mae was employed at Electron and Multimedia Cablevision, both in Wichita, Kansas, but paramount in her life was always being a homemaker and a devoted wife and mother. A wonderful cook, she truly loved being in the kitchen. She especially loved baking and took a series of classes to learn the art of cake decorating. For several years she bowled on a women's league.

Ona Mae's family enjoyed camping and would regularly tow their trailer to visit many parks such as Huntsville State Park and Garner State Park in Texas. In their retirement life Ona Mae and Gene graduated to fifth-wheeling and would frequently become winter Texans down in the Red River Valley. Branson, Missouri, was always a favorite as well, and Ona Mae would share her stories of the various shows they saw there. She and Gene also visited their son Dennis when he lived in Hawaii.


Ona Mae was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Burnie M. (Junior) Pipkin, and his wife Darlene (the girl who lived across the street and who
Ona Mae met when she was four and Darlene was five, maintaining that friendship for 77 years); her sister, Lorene Briscoe; and her daughter, Sandra.

She is survived by her brother, Marvin Pipkin of Oklahoma City; son Dennis and his wife Kinuko of St. George, Utah; her son David of Wichita; her daughter Vicki and husband Stan Heinzman of Wichita; four grandchildren, DeAnna Grimes of Pasadena, Texas; Regina Greathouse of Crockett, Texas; Travis Heinzman of Wichita, Kansas; and Amy McLennan of Casper, Wyoming; six great-grandchildren and eight great-great grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 3:00-8:00 p.m., Thursday, January 31, 2019, at Resthaven Funeral Home & Memory Gardens, 500 S.W. 104th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The service for Ona Mae will be Friday, February 1, 2019, at
10:30 a.m. Lunch will be served. Graveside will be for immediate and extended family members. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Ona Mae may be made to the Central Oklahoma Humane Society's Adoption Center,
P.O. Box 18471, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73154.